Orpington Bus Routes R1 R2 R3 R7 And
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Consultation on possible changes to bus services in Orpington (Routes R1, R2, R3, R7 and R11) Consultation Report August 2016 Consultation on possible changes to bus services in Orpington (Routes R1, R2, R3, R7 and R11) Consultation Report Contents 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 2 2 The consultation ............................................................................................................. 3 3 Responses from members of the public ......................................................................... 5 4 Responses from statutory bodies and other stakeholders ............................................ 34 Appendices Appendix A – Consultation materials .................................................................................. 40 Appendix B – Leaflet distribution area ................................................................................ 55 Appendix C – List of stakeholders consulted ...................................................................... 58 Appendix D – Questionnaire ............................................................................................... 63 Appendix E – Petition .......................................................................................................... 67 Appendix F – All public comments about the scheme ......................................................... 69 1 1 Introduction We consulted stakeholders and the public about proposed changes to bus services in the Orpington area. The consultation was open between 1 February to 13 March 2016, it was extended by a week and closed on 20 March 2016. A full review of all bus services in Orpington was carried out. The review considered reliability, usage and connectivity of bus routes in and around Orpington. In summary the changes proposed were: • Route R1 (Green Street Green – Grovelands) would continue to run between Green Street Green and Grovelands. We proposed a minor re-route from Repton Road to run via Tower Road, Station Road, Station approach and Orpington Station in both directions. Monday to Saturday daytime frequencies would be reduced to every 20 minutes. • Route R2 (Biggin Hill Valley – Petts Wood Station) would run between Biggin Hill Valley and Orpington Town Centre. It would no longer run between Orpington and Petts Wood. • Route R3 (Locksbottom – Chelsfield Village) would be re-routed from Orpington Station to Orpington Hospital via Tower Road. It would no longer run between Orpington and Chelsfield Village. Also it would run via Amherst Drive instead of Poverest Road. Monday to Saturday daytime frequencies would be increased to every 20 minutes. Evening and Sunday frequencies would be increased to every 30 minutes. • Route R7 (Orpington – Bickley) would be extended from Bickley to Chislehurst War Memorial and extended from Orpington to Chelsfield Village. Monday to Saturday daytime frequencies would be increased to every 30 minutes. We would introduce an hourly Sunday service. • Route R11 (Sidcup, Queen Marys Hospital – Green Street Green) would continue to run between Queen Mary’s Hospital and Green Street Green. It would no longer serve Edgington Way, Sidcup Tesco and Orpington Hospital. Monday to Saturday daytime frequencies would be increased to every 12 minutes. Evening and Sunday frequencies would be increased to every 20 minutes. This report explains the background to the scheme and consultation and summarises the responses from the general public and stakeholders. The results of this consultation will form part of the decision making process as to whether the scheme is implemented, modified or does not go ahead. A separate report contains our responses to the main issues raised during the consultation period. 2 2 The consultation The consultation was designed to enable us to understand the views of local residents, stakeholders, and businesses on the proposed structural and timetable changes. The potential outcomes of the consultation are: • We decide the consultation raises no issues that should prevent us from proceeding with the scheme as originally planned • We modify the scheme in response to issues raised in consultation • We abandon the scheme as a result of issues raised in the consultation 2.1 Consultation objectives The objectives of the consultation were: • To give stakeholders and the public easily-understandable information about the proposals and allow them to respond • To understand the level of support or opposition for the change • To understand any issues that might affect the proposal of which we were not previously aware • To understand concerns and objections • To allow respondents to make suggestions 2.2 Who we consulted The public consultation intended to seek the views of people who live near to the proposed route, current users of the service and other potential users. We also consulted stakeholders including the affected Councils, traffic police, London TravelWatch, Members of Parliament, Assembly Members and local interest groups. A list of the stakeholders we consulted is shown in Appendix C and a summary of their responses is given in Section 4. 2.3 Consultation material, distribution and publicity The consultation was available on our consultation website http://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/orpington-buses We sent an email to stakeholders with a link to the online consultation page. We produced a 20 page A5 booklet outlining the proposals (Appendix A). We sent this to all residents within a 400 metre distance of the current and proposed routes (Appendix B). In total 32,500 leaflets were distributed. We sent a supply of leaflets to • Local GP surgeries (that agreed to keep a supply on display) • Orpington Hospital • Poverest Centre, Bromley Adult Education (after the drop in session) The proposals for the R1 and R3 would mean that Tower Road would have buses operating along the road. Currently buses out of service use Tower Road. We sent a leaflet to all residents on Tower Road. The proposals for the R7 would mean that buses would use Blackbrook Lane and Bickley Park Road to and from Chislehurst. We sent leaflets to all residents along the affected parts of Blackbrook Lane and Bickley Park Road. 3 An A4 poster highlighting the consultation was displayed at stops along the routes where space was available. The consultation was advertised in a press release to South London press on 5 February 2016. An email containing a link to the online consultation was sent to registered users of Routes R1, R2, R3, R7 and R11. This email was sent out to 4,093 customers. The leaflet mentioned that copies were available in large print, audio or another language through a Freephone number 0343 222 1155. People were invited to respond to the consultation using a variety of methods. They could respond by accessing the online questionnaire; by using our freepost address at FREEPOST TFL CONSULTATIONS; by emailing [email protected] or by calling our Customer Contact Centre on 0343 222 1155. The questionnaire asked twelve questions (eight generic and four specific). Of the generic questions we asked respondents for their name, email address, postcode, organisation name (if they were responding on behalf of an organisation), whether the respondent had a health problem or disability which limited their day to day activities, how they heard about the consultation, and views on the quality of the consultation. A copy of a paper questionnaire is shown in Appendix D. There were four questions specific to the consultation: • Question 1: How often do you use the bus routes? Respondents were given a choice of six answers: Daily, 2-3 times a week, Once a week, 1-2 times a month, Rarely, Never. • Question 2: How will the proposed changes affect the length of your journey? Respondents were given a choice of five answers: my journey will be shorter, my journey will be longer, there will be no change to the length of my journey, I do not know what the impact will be, I do not use this route. • Question 3: Do you support our proposals for routes R1, R2, R3, R7 and R11? Respondents were given four answers: yes, no, not sure, no opinion. • Questions 4: Do you have any comments about the proposed changes to these bus routes (Please select the route/s you are commenting on). Respondents were given a “free text” box to share their views. 2.4 Meetings We met with Councillor Colin Smith and Bromley Council on 16 December 2016. During this meeting we explained the background to our proposals and gave details of the consultation. We held three public drop-in sessions during the consultation period which enabled us to hand out leaflets, answer queries and encourage people to comment. Feedback forms were also available for those wishing to comment in writing. 4 The drop-in sessions took place as follows: • Chislehurst Library on Monday 15 February • Orpington Village Hall on Tuesday 16 February • The Poverest Centre, Bromley Adult Education on Thursday 25 February The consultation material was also exhibited at the Opportunity Orpington business show on Thursday 18 February at Orpington Campus, Bromley College. 3 Responses from members of the public 3.1 Overview We received 873 responses from members of the public. Of these, 563 (64%) were submitted online and 310 (36%) were submitted via post, email or consultation form. We received a petition from residents of Brittenden Close and Wardensfield Close in Green Street Green. This was signed by 54 people. The petition is shown